In the spirit of our local history we are revolting against the status quo. We are writing our own story by fueling the fire surrounding extra hoppy beers. We infuse Mass Rising with increasing amounts of American hops during the kettle, hopbock and dry hopping processes. Together, we have taken a journey to redefine the term 'lager.'
IBUs 100 IBU

Taste explodes with fresh citrus hops, grapefruit and tropical fruits, light hop resins and musty fresh hop oils, a bit oily, then some light lager fruits and light pale malts, some sweet toasty malts. Light sweet honey like flavor. The it gets very bitter and slightly astringent, the hops way overpower the lager flavors and gets a bit overly on the finish, dry and very bitter finish with lingering fresh hops and citrus, light pine as well, and has a sticky almost creamy feel.

I'm an IPA guy, not a Lager guy, but bumping the IBU's to 100 seemed to kind of work. I would choose this over many standard IPA's out there but prefer the 65 IBU's of their Hoponius Union over this. The beers seemed identical with welcomed less bitterness at 65 IBU. (985 characters)

More User Reviews:

Thanks to Jeff for splitting the Jack's Abby goodies. The 2nd Anniversary Lager pours out like liquid sunshine; golden yellow with a moderate haze that swims throughout the entire body. Surprised by the lack of clarity, but it still looks decent enough. A soapy, beaming white head rises up and only take a few moments to gather into a thick collar and thin ring on top of the pale brew.

As expected, based on the description as well as their regular IPL, the aroma is filled with pines and peppery spice. There's some pretty dank hoppage going on, and even a mild cat urine aroma that's floating about. I'm thinking Simcoe and/or Summit are being used somewhere in here. White pepper covered white grapefruit peels (wut) with mild orange and other, more nebulous notes of bitter citrus. Nothing in the aroma notes at much lager yeast or even malt. This bad boy is all about the hops, through and through.

Resinous and full of pine is the first sip with a tongue clenching bitterness that strikes immediately and takes its time mellowing out into a much softer, underlying, bread malt sweetness. When the raw, oily hop flavors start to fade, they also begin to reveal their fruitier side - citrus, grapefruit, orange, more on the bitter side still, but a touch of juicy flesh is hidden in there somewhere. As mentioned previously, cracker malt is notable in the finish.

So far, it seems like a hoppy lager that might as well be an ale, since the only real tell that this is a lager is the crisp and dry finish. Carbonated well, thin bodied, and super clean after each sip, though the initial look might not hint at that exactly. I wish for a little more taste from the yeast itself, or perhaps even a stronger, bready malt presence from start to finish, though the beer is still pretty nice if your goal is to have something indefinitely hoppy.

I've enjoyed the three Jack's Abby lagers I've had up to this point in my beer drinking career, although I've gotta say that many of them could probably pass for ales. They've all got a nice, crisp, clean finish, but I've seen similar palatable qualities achieved with ale yeast, or at least close enough to not require extended and cooler fermentation. In any case, another good brew, though I prefer the less aggressive, more drinkable Hoponius Union. (2,302 characters)

Whoa, Mamma—you may want to sit down before you take the first sip, as the epicness hits you that hard. “Limited anniversary beer” ... say it’s not so! Really, guys, bring it back or just brew this every year at least. Reminder: This is a lager, and Jack’s Abby is redefining the way people should think about our bottom-fermenting friends.

Overall: 100 IBUs and showing it. This will not disappoint those who love hop bombs. Much like the rest of Jack's Abbey's brews, it is very clean. Nice beer, but one is good enough for me. (467 characters)